Emma Stone and Steve Carell play Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in Fox Searchlight’s upcoming drama Battle of the Sexes, which examines the infamous 1973 tennis match between the two that became one of the most widely-viewed sporting events in America at the time.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love women, in the bedroom and in the kitchen,” Riggs says during a joint press conference ahead of the big match.
“Keep talking, Bobby, the more nonsense you spout the worse it’s going be when you lose,” King fires back.
The internationally-televised 1973 match featured a winner-take-all $100,000 prize and reportedly drew an audience of 50 million people in the United States alone. The match also had a profound effect on the future of women’s tennis.
Battle of the Sexes is directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine) off of a script from Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours) and co-stars Alan Cumming, Sarah Silverman, Elisabeth Shue, Eric Christian Olsen, and Natalie Morales.
The film is in theaters September 22.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum